" My name is Andrea, aka Doulandie. I am a professionally trained and certified Massage Specialist, Dancing for Birth Instructor ™ and a DONA trained Birth and Postpartum Doula. "

It can be difficult to feel comfortable in our own skin, or to believe that we’re capable of new physical feats or deep relaxation once we’ve settled into adulthood. Our bodies hold our stresses, our histories, and our pain – and sometimes we could use a little help to push beyond our stresses and histories and pain, and live life to the fullest in the skin we’re in.

Andrea Furlan is one such individual whose passion is helping people build new relationships with their bodies.

Whether it’s as a dance teacher, an adjudicator, or a certified spa therapist, Andrea takes a nurturing and holistic approach to movement and massage so that her students and clients are empowered to realize the full potential of the power they carry within their bodies.

These aren’t just jobs for Andrea; they represent a calling. She comes to this work with a vast history that highlights her profound interest in bodies and movement, including years spent as a professional dancer and teacher, and supporting pregnant and new mothers as a doula.

Andrea’s adult dance classes – which currently include a gentle stretch class and a beginner jazz class – require no previous experience to join, and are thoughtfully designed to encourage students to “love their bodies,” says Andrea. “The stretch class is deep and meditative, and in the jazz class, it’s almost therapeutic how much we laugh.”

Both classes are about “finding joy in your body, and discovering something about yourself and having an outlet in which to do it,” says Andrea, adding, “I love when people pull me aside and describe to me a breakthrough where they’ve discovered something new about themselves.”

This is also something Andrea strives to do as a festival adjudicator, and as a certified spa therapist with an in-home spa: to pay attention to what individual bodies are telling her, and to facilitate all manner of breakthroughs.

“Empathy is the cornerstone of everything I do, and is essential to building a connection with our bodies,” says Andrea. “I have experienced that in the last year, too, in myself, and it’s been so needed and I’m healthier in my body and my approach to myself and in my own happiness. I’m discovering me again.”